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1962 NBA Finals

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The 1962 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 1961-62 National Basketball Association season, and was the conclusion of the 1962 NBA Playoffs. The best-of-seven series was played between the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. This was the Celtics' 6th straight trip to the championship series, and they won the series over the Lakers, 4-3. It featured the latest Game 7 of an NBA finals to be decided in overtime.

Series summary

Game Date Home Team Result Road Team
Game 1 April 7 (Sat) Boston Celtics 122-108 (1-0) Los Angeles Lakers
Game 2 April 8 (Sun) Boston Celtics 122-129 (1-1) Los Angeles Lakers
Game 3 April 10 (Tue) Los Angeles Lakers 117-115 (2-1) Boston Celtics
Game 4 April 11 (Wed) Los Angeles Lakers 103-115 (2-2) Boston Celtics
Game 5 April 14 (Sat) Boston Celtics 121-126 (2-3) Los Angeles Lakers
Game 6 April 16 (Mon) Los Angeles Lakers 105-119 (3-3) Boston Celtics
Game 7 April 18 (Wed) Boston Celtics 110-107 (OT) (4-3) Los Angeles Lakers

Boston Celtics defeated Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 3

Team rosters

Records

During the series, Lakers forward Elgin Baylor scored an NBA finals record of 61 points, in a game 5 Lakers victory. Celtics center Bill Russell set a still-standing record for rebounds in a 7-game NBA finals series with 189, and tied his own record for rebounds in a single NBA finals game with 40 in the final game of the series.[1]

The missed shot

In the last 5 seconds of regulation of Game 7 of the Finals, L.A. Laker Frank Selvy missed an open 12-foot shot from the baseline that would have won the game and the tiltle. Instead, the game went into overtime—the Celtics won the game and the series. For the Lakers, it would start the pattern of not winning the big games in the NBA Finals, something that would last until 1972 when the Lakers finally won their first NBA Championship in Los Angeles. The Lakers would not defeat the Celtics in the NBA Finals until 1985; they came up short against Boston in 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1984 and most recently 2008. Besides 1985, The Lakers would beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals again in 1987 and 2010.

References

  1. ^ The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia,. Villard Books. 1994. pp. 413–414, 416. ISBN 0-679-43293-8. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)